Ridwan Kamil Encourage Fatwa Haram Mudik Kala Pandemi COVID-19 in Memory of Today, April 9, 2020

JAKARTA - Today's memory, six years ago, April 9, 2020, the Governor of West Java (Jabar), Ridwan Kamil urged the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) to issue a fatwa that it is haram to return home during the COVID-19 pandemic. The narrative is because the tradition of returning home for Eid is considered to be able to increase the number of victims of the corona virus.

Previously, the presence of the corona virus brought big problems in Indonesia. Panic arose everywhere. No one is immune to the virus from Wuhan. Whoever is crowded, will certainly be infected with the corona virus.

The COVID-19 pandemic brought panic around the world. The narrative is because the virus from Wuhan is able to spread quickly, even outside China. Many countries on average detect the corona virus entering their country in January 2020. Unlike Indonesia, which only detected the corona virus in March 2020.

Not a few consider the Indonesian government to be late in detecting the entry. This narrative is strengthened by the emergence of many cases of COVID-19 transmission throughout the archipelago. The central government is also powerless to break the chain of transmission of COVID-19.

This condition makes the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic carried out seriously. The government is also waiting for the appeal from the world health body, WHO. President Jokowi also took a stance. He considers COVID-19 as a type of disease that creates an emergency in society.

As a result, the government declared a state of public health emergency. Jokowi chose the option of large-scale social restrictions or PSBB. This option emphasizes that people should stay at home and avoid crowds at the end of March. However, this option is not easy.

The people of Indonesia are also faced with the tradition of returning home for Eid. The government is also urged to ban the tradition of returning home during the COVID-19 pandemic. This condition is so that not many people are infected with the virus.

"The government has designated COVID-19 as a type of disease with risk factors that cause public health emergencies. And therefore the government has set the status of public health emergencies. To overcome the impact of the outbreak, I have decided in a cabinet meeting, the option we choose is PSBB," said Jokowi as quoted by lamandetik.com, March 31, 2020.

The insistence to temporarily ban homecoming comes from everywhere. Ridwan Kamil also watched it. The West Java Governor considers banning homecoming to be the most reasonable option to prevent the transmission of the corona virus.

Ridwan asked the central government to immediately decide to prohibit homecoming. However, Ridwan considers the government cannot be alone. Ridwan encouraged MUI to issue a fatwa that it is haram to homecoming when the COVID-19 pandemic raged on April 9, 2020.

The emergence of the fatwa haram is considered effective. All because Ridwan considers that the community wants to follow the words of his ulama. Ridwan also does not mind if later the fatwa is issued by the central MUI or the regional MUI.

Ridwan is not alone. Efforts to urge MUI to ban the tradition of homecoming during COVID-19 also came from the Vice President, Ma'ruf Amin. The fatwa also came out later.

"I hope that MUI will issue a fatwa that is haram to return home because usually people obey the ulama more. "Usually, if the statement from the West Java MUI will be more firm because it is one frequency with the task force that prohibits homecoming," said Ridwan as quoted by the lamankumparan, April 9, 2020.